REPRINTED FROM ORCHARD AND FARM. 
for its fruit, but also as a shade tree, 
growing naturally to a great age and 
size. It makes a noble door-yai'd or- 
namental. It is recorded that a great 
chestnut in Totwoiih. England, still 
standing in 1881, was known as a boun- 
dary tree in the reign of King John, 
1199 to 1216. 
Because of its habit of growth, the 
tree when planted in an orchard, should 
be given plenty of room to prevent fu- 
ture crowding. 
ADAPTS ITSELF READILY 
That the tree takes naturally to 
California soils and climatic conditions 
is indicated by the fact that in the 
gold mining towns of California, 
trees planted by the early settlers, still 
stand in full vigor and productiveness. 
In fact, it may be safely said that no 
fruit-bearing tree that thrives in Cali- 
fornia will stand more neglect and 
abuse than the chestnut and still pro- 
duce regular and profitable crops. 
It will be seen, therefore, that thou- 
sands of acr;s of roue:h land in the 
foothills and higher districts of the 
Sierra Nevada are admirably adapted 
to chestnut culture. A deep, well 
drained, light gravelly soil Is prefer- 
able, but chestnuts will .succeed in 
heavy clay, if it is well drained and of 
good depth. Many mountain valleys, 
therefore, should be suitable. The red 
clay loams of the Sierras up to an alti- 
tude of three thousand feet and prob- 
ably higher are exceptionally desirable, 
according to experiments conducted by 
the writer in Nevada County, Califor- 
nia. Although exposure is compara- 
tively unimportant, a southern expos- 
sure is least desired. For high altitudes 
and more northerly latitudes, earlier 
varieties should be selected. 
YOUNG TREES GIVE PROMISE 
Young plantings induced by obser- 
vations of scattering old trees on this 
type of .soil and at an altitude of three 
thousand feet have demonstrated the 
great promise of this rather neglected 
tree. 
A twenty-five year old door yard 
tree in Nevada County, producing 
about 300 pounds annually, brings the 
owner from $45 to $60 a year. This 
tree is on volcanic ash soil (Aiken 
clay loam). 
I know of many trees in Nevada 
County which although neglected for 
years, never fail to bear large crops. 
Anyom! who has land adapted to 
chestnut groimng. either unth or with- 
out irripatinp water, well may consider 
planting a jew acres to approved va- 
rieties. 
Net returns of $125 to $250 or more 
per acre, may be expected from a 15- 
year-old planting and the revenue 
should increase up to 25 years. 
The grower should remember also 
that he is planting this nut not for 
his profit alone, but also for the bene- 
fit of succeeding generations, since the 
tree is very long lived. 
The growth is about as rapid as that 
of most fruit trees and the grove may 
be interplanted to peaches or other 
faster-growing fruits, or vegetables 
suited to soil and market conditions of 
the district. 
Grafted chestnut trees bear in four 
years and many seedlings are very pre- 
cocious, bearing good crops at five or 
six years. 
Little skill is required to srrow chest- 
nuts successfully. Given proper soil 
conditions, the tree is less exacting in 
iis requirements than any of the stand- 
ard orchard types. 
The pruning is simple, and spraying 
is unnecessary except for an occa- 
sional dormant lime sulphur wash; and 
this only when it seems desirable. 
I have yet to hear of any insect pests 
damaging the chestnut trees on the 
Pacific Coast; in fact small boys seem 
to be the only serious pests in Ne- 
vada County! 
A Mature French Chestnut — Marron Combale V ariety 
PROPAGATION 
Propagation of chestnuts is not easy; 
yet with care, both the seedlings and 
grafts may be made to grow. Seed 
for planting must be used while fresh. 
The nuts used for seed may be mixed 
with moist sand in the proportion of 
one-third nuts to two-thirds sand and 
kept in boxes in a cool cellar until they 
sprout, when they should be planted in 
well prepared soil, either where they 
are to stand permanently or in the 
nursery. 
Another method of preserving the 
r.uts which I have found very satisfac- 
tory, is to mix them with moist earth 
and leaves so that the whole is a loose 
mass. Then place in boxes with the 
tops level with the ground and cover 
with leaves. For protection from ro- 
dents, a small mesh wire netting should 
be placed over the top of the boxes. 
Occasionally all methods of care prove 
valueless and the nuts mould in spite 
of every precaution, 
METHODS OP CULTURE 
Following are brief outlines of meth- 
ods of propagating, planting and care, 
based on the writer's observations and 
the experience of others: 
Seedling trees grown from nuts taken 
from grafted trees come very true to 
type and many seedlings from nuts 
grown on seedling trees bear good 
crops — sometimes even better than tpe 
parent. 
Since the chestnut is rather difficult 
to graft, the question of whether to use 
seedling trees (to be top-grafted) for 
orchard planting or the more expens- 
ive grafted trees, must be decided by 
each individual. 
Grafted stock will bear sooner (first 
nuts in about four years) and will pro- 
duce true-to-type nuts that will ma- 
ture uniformly throughout the orchard, 
and considering every factor therefore, 
is cheaper in the long run. 
Grafted trees cost from $25 to $35 
an acre; seedlings one-half as much. 
The cost of stock in fact is about the 
same as that of fruit trees, but there 
is less planting expense, for there are 
fewer treeg to the acre. 
VARIETIES 
Although much might be said of the 
different varieties, I will describe only 
those generally cultivated. These are 
divided into three main classes; the 
Japanese or Oriental, the Native Amer- 
ican and the European. 
The Japanese nuts are very large, 
while the trees are usually small and 
come into bearing early, but in most 
localities they are undersirable as they 
are not very hardy and many crops 
may be lost through frost. The quality 
of the nut, furthermore, is inferior. 
The Native American or Sweet 
chestnut, is indigenous to most of the 
States east of the Mississippi River. 
Although it is slow in development and 
comes into bearing late, when matured 
it makes one of the finest shade trees 
known. When crossed with the Euro- 
pean sorts, this type has produced some 
of the best of the named varieties. 
THE EUROPEAN TYPES 
The European (commonly called 
Italian, Spanish and French or French 
Marron) all are of the same origin. The 
color "maroon" comes from the word 
Marron (chestnut color). 
The European variety can be dis- 
tinguished from the American Sweet 
or its hybrids by the small amount of 
fuzz about the point. The amount on 
the American Sweets is much greater, 
sometimes nearly covering the nut. The 
